In the use of window and architectural passage coverings, the art has long relied on cords, string or the like to extend and retract the coverings. Such coverings take many forms, including shades such as curtains, roll-up shades, Venetian blinds, vertical blinds, cellular shades, and the like. The problem with such coverings that rely on cords is that small children can become entangled in the cords and experience serious harm, including strangulation and death. On Aug. 26, 2009, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of all ¼ inch Oval Roll-up Blinds and Woolrich Roman Shades, including some 4.2 million roll-up blinds and 600,000 Roman shades, (www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09324.html). The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission referenced the hazard that “[s]trangulations can occur if the lifting loops slide off the side of the blind and a child's neck becomes entangled on the free-standing loop or if a child places his/her neck between the lifting loop and the roll-up blind material.” Recent cited injuries include a report that “[i]n November 2007, a 1-year-old boy from Norridgewock, Me. became entangled and strangled in the lift cord loop of a roll-up blind that had fallen into his portable crib. In October 2008, a 13-month-old boy from Conway, Ark. was found with his head between the exposed inner cord and the cloth on the backside of a Roman shade. The cord was not looped around the boy's neck but rather ran from ear to ear and strangled the child.” Numerous manufacturers and retailers have followed their call to recall dangerous blinds and shades. Additional information may be found at: (www.windowcoverings.org).
In addition to the internal cords attached to the shade or blinds that can be pulled out and pose a problem, the pull cords, string and beaded cords in mechanical based blinds and shades that are pulled on to draw up the blinds or shades also pose a risk since they also create a hazardous loop of sufficient diameter twelve (12) inches per the Consumer Product Safety Commission) for a small child to get their head tangled inside. Some industry standards consider a loop of seven and one half (7.5) inches to be hazardous. Even the retrofit devices currently available (www.windowcoverings.org/how_to_retrofit.html) do not eliminate the hazardous loops created by the beaded cords even if they are tied to the wall with a tie-down device such as a Rollease™ product or with separated draw strings and/or cord stops that could still become tangled together to create a hazardous loop.
Further, the cords used to lift the window coverings often get entangled upon themselves during operation such that the window covering cannot be smoothly and properly raised and lowered.
In consequence, the art is in need of improvement in coverings for architectural openings that maintains the functionality and aesthetics of previously developed coverings, but avoids their deficiencies, particularly their hazardous character as regards to the risk of injury or death associated with the use of cord arrangements. The art also is in need of a new mechanism to allow the lifting of shades without creating a hazardous loop. Further, it is desirable to have a mechanism to allow the cord used to lift and lower the covering for an architectural opening to be accumulated without entanglement to safely and smoothly raise a window covering.